


(Not Just) a Bowl

by orphan_account



Category: Backstrom (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-17
Updated: 2015-04-17
Packaged: 2018-03-23 08:27:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3761512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How I imagine Valentine's thoughts after rescuing Backstrom's bowl from the fire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(Not Just) a Bowl

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism and comments are always welcome!

Valentine wasn’t even sure what he was going to do with the bowl, or why he took it. Nevertheless, he was now the owner of one small pottery bowl, decorated with the love and care he supposed mothers put into their children, but holding it made him feel dirty. Valentine was no stranger to stolen objects or stealing things himself, but never anything so… personal. Never anything associated so closely with loss, at least not any loss that he’d cared about. Then again he’d never had a half brother before either, so maybe this was normal.

 

But he knew it wasn’t. It wasn’t normal for mothers to commit suicide days after their child’s birth. It wasn’t ordinary for fathers to take out loss on their sons. It wasn’t everyone who had a hooker-turned-evangelist for a mom. It wasn’t normal for boys to grow up so broken. Unfortunately, it seemed neither he nor Backstrom ever had normalcy, and he doubted they would be getting any in the future, especially with the current family situation.

 

So, no. Valentine didn’t know what to do with the bowl or why he took it. He didn’t understand why Backstrom wanted to destroy it if he had kept it in such good condition for such a long time. He didn’t really understand what family was or if he and Everett were one. Hell, he didn’t even know if it was all worth the fuss.

 

But, he did know that where there was love, there is pain, and that Backstrom was in a lot of pain whether or not he wanted to acknowledge it. So he held on to the bowl, to the piece of himself that Everett wanted gone forever, the part that he couldn’t get out from under his skin. He did this because maybe, one day, Everett would need it.

 

Maybe because pain was the only thing to ground Backstrom at times, but, hopefully, because he would be ready to let the love in.

 

 


End file.
